don't know if you have a satnav or not,, if not get a decent map of both France and Spain as you will be wanting to use the smaller roads, not the main arteriel roads.

To save money.
1, get a cheaper ferry
2, avoid peages wherever sensible.
3, camp free.

How to do that

1, take the LD/transmanche ferry from newhaven/portsmouth. To get there come down the A34 as far as possible and if sailing from nehaven use the A272 ( the road that goes through Bilingshurst).

2, From the French side head for Rouen, Then take the peage A13 to Evreux via Louviers, USE THE PEAGE, it will cost 1 euro but save a lot of hassle.
Stay on the N154 until you join with the RN12.
Then turn right to head west to Mortagne au perche. head for Belleme then Bonnetable, as you approach Le Mans turn onto the D20 BIS until it joins the D323 (old RN23). Turn off at Arnage and follow the D307 to Samur.
At Samur follow the signs for Niort until you get close to Parthenay after which follow the signs around the ringroad to Poitiers. Look out for St Maixent l'ecole. follow the signs for that then on to La Mothe st Heray and onto Lezay and Sauze Vasous. Here you pick up teh RN10 south to Bordeaux. Follow the ring road around towards Bayonne but turn off at J16 onto the d1010 which is the old RN10 follow it all the way to St Geours de Maremme which is where it crosses the RN124.
From there follow the D12 to Urt, Hasperran and Cambo les Bains. From Cambo follow the D918 to Ainhoa south and onto Sare which is close to the Spanish border. Follow the D406 and it will take you to Bera de vidaso in Spain.

3, The Aires/laybyes are meant for people to stop, rest and sleep. Generally an overnight 'Bivouac' in little tents with your bikes parked close by will be fine. Often they have showers as well as toilets although basic. It helps if you buy a coffee in the shop if there is one. Generally the busy Aires are safer as there is lorry traffic about. Pitch up out of sight of the road if quiet site.
Look out for Supermarkets to buy food and fuel.

but do get a decent map, ideally one that is ring bound as they open up better.

There is a small hotel in the middle of Belleme opposite a water garden/feature thing, the couple who run it are fantasic and will let you keep the bikes in the garden (around the back), the woman speaks a little english but the bloke (and rather good chef) doesn't, neither do any of the staff. The rooms are typically French and the food is too. It's a great experience of French hospitality.

I turned up ther one night, soaked through, dirty and looking very bedraggled, thier hospitality was amazing as was the food, and it wasn't expensive at all (sometimes you need a little comfort in a trip just to get your moral back).

Just a suggestion.

If you find yourself needing camping near Le Mans try this wonderful site, Camping Municipal Du Val De Sarthe, it's in the lovely medieval town of Beaumont sur Sarthe. It's about 20k's north of the city. Only 5 Euro a night for bike and tent.

If you want to keep your camping costs down then head for the local town and find the Municipal sites. They're usually right in the centre and of good quality.

Good luck.

Wow! Many thanks to all the helpful replies here. I knew you were good, but not this good.

Zarks - We were considering taking the ferry on one of the routes as a time saver. Although the recliner seat is only saving £40pp, so would be worth the cabin probably....ticket alone is near £200pp. I'll do some research into Jaca and the likes and add it to our route.

Oldbmw & Bobduro - Fantastic (either memory, or gps checking This is the route we're looking at, so I'll add these roads to our map. I also checked the LD ferry which appears to be as expensive (or more) than P&O during late July/August unfortunately.
I am looking into getting a Garmin Etrex Vista (for the journey south or north) which I've seen used to good effect by friends on the trails. It can handle Memory Map for routing lanes, so looks to be the best budget option (second hand). We'll then use maps for the Pyrenees and surrounding areas.

Gasup & FLyingdoctor - many thanks for the camping info. We're going to try ignoring hotels for now, as we've been inspired by Austin Vince recently after a visit to rough it more. Hope we can last.

We'll get on with using your help to plot some routes. The campsite and Aires/laybyes info is a great help too. Many thanks....I might be back for more soon!
Cheers

Simon

I went with a mate last Easter.
Overnight ferry Plymouth to Roscoff - not the cheapest crossing but easiest for us in Cornwall. It also means that you start in France early in the morning with a full day to ride.
1st day to Mons, about an hour north of Bordeaux
2nd day to the border with Spain then up into the mountains.
We managed this without too much time on peage roads but, in poor weather, it was 2 long days on the road.


On the way back we took the Santander Ferry. It is more expensive but once you put in petrol, tyre wear, food and accommodation there is very little real difference.

I have a zipped file think I got it from here? It has all camp sites and national parks around the world of course it is not 100% never will be really will it
you use it with google earth map it is in german (country names) but not too dificult will dig it out and attch it here when I get in from work

__________________
We are the Pilgrims, Master, we shall go Always a little further: it may be beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow, Across that angry or that glimmering sea.

Anything like this would be a great help Selous.
We'll be at the UK HU meeting in June too, to pick anyone's brains.
Many thanks
Simon